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Topic: Garments (Read 307 times)

Am I the only one who hates cutting up garments? I know it's time to get rid of them, but just have some problems making that first cut.

Speaking of cutting garments, why do we destroy the symbols? I understand that they should be removed from the garment before using the garment in any other way (such as rags), but if all you're gonna do is throw it away, why do we have to destroy the symbols?

I was always told so that someone won't steal them from the trash to a) use them unworthily or b) learn of the symbols. But, I've never understood those reasons. Anyone have any other reasons?

Shortly after Hubby and I married, in 2004 - I went through his garments. They were thread bare. After I got him new ones (like 24 pairs!!) I took the thread bare ones out to the burning barrel and burned them all.

When my Mom passed in 1983, those garments that were too well worn, we removed the symbols - then cut out the back of the tops to use as dusting rags. She wore 100% cotton, so they worked fine for that. The bottoms, well, we burned them in their entirety too.

I wear DriSylke and they are horrible for dusting or rags of any kind. Again, I burn them in their entirety. I take newspapers, roll each garment in 1/2 sheet of paper, then add it to the burning barrel.

I have a small laundry basket in the bedroom waiting for me to cut and toss. Can't burn because the landowner won't allow a burning barrel here.

To answer one of your questions: Nope, doesn't bother me to cut up old, well worn garments. Hubby wears the Cotton/Jersey kind, they make wonderful cloths for wiping really sore, runny noses.

Why are we to remove the symbols: Don't have an answer for that one. Perhaps you could call your nearest Temple and ask them.

I was taught that the symbols designate the garment (as in, general item of clothing) as a Garment (as in, sacred apparel worn as part of our covenants). Cutting out and destroying the symbols de-sanctifies the Garment and returns it to its prior status as common fabric. We then further deconstruct the remaining garment to make it unrecognizable and help to protect the sacredness of the Garment.

But when are garments sanctified? And why would they have to be sanctified? Isn't that for people? We don't sanctify the books we use, or the tableclothes used for the sacrament, or the ceremonial cloths (nor are we told to dispose of them in some special way.

I don't know why garments special instructions started. But nowadays when even the church posts everything but the symbols, and all the symbols are posted by church outsiders, it seems like perpetuating the myth that you won't die or be burned or get stabbed because you are somehow supernaturally protected by garments. (NOTE: I am not saying that people haven't been protected by garments. But it isn't because of something magical about the garments themselves.)

From the CHI: To dispose of worn out temple garments, members should cut out and destroy the marks. Members then cut up the remaining fabric so it cannot be identified as a garment. Once the marks are removed, the fabric is not considered sacred.

My practice: I cut out the marks and put them through the paper shredder. Then I cut the garments into relatively square pieces to use for cleaning cloths.

My understanding of the rationale: The marks are symbols associated with temple covenants, and we treat them with the same care as other symbols associated with temple covenants.

I am sorta odd about using garments as rags. I cut out and burn the marks in my sink. Then I shred the reast and am planning to use the shreds as stuffing for baby toys. I used to shred and burn but decided that wastes pefectly good stuff to repurpose. Its mostly the elastic and trim that wear out for me or in the last years, I went down a bunch of sizes. so the fabric is still in pretty good condition.

I do what Roper does, using matches instead of the paper shredder, but to the same end. My thinking is that we destroy the markings for the same reason Americans dispose of a worn-out flag by ceremonial burning (donít know what is done in other countries). Itís to be respectful of the symbol & what it represents by not just dumping it whole into the trash; & to keep anyone who doesn't grasp the significance from seeing it in the trash & consider it just another piece of trash (or keep anyone who doesn't even see it from treating it as just another piece of trash).

What remains with the symbols gone is just worn-out fabric, which I cut up to use for cleaning. I wear 100% cotton, & old, worn cotton is perfect for dusting or polishing.

I like Janaís idea of making the scraps into stuffing material. I would do that, except that I currently have more than a half full bag of polyester fiber stuffing because I bought it for a project & had a pile of it left, & I havenít been inspired to do another project.

Do we dump worn-out scriptures or reams of old Ensign paper magazines or stacks of those once high-tech cassette tape recordings of 1987 General Conference in the recycling bin? Yeah, we do. We do that in California anyway, where recycling is a big thing - at least they don't go into the garbage & just get hauled to the dump to rot for the next 10,000 years like in places where people think natural resources are infinite & there's no recycling.

Tossing scriptures also seems disrespectful, since they are the word of God, so I donít know why there isnít some guidance about how to dispose of those. We can explain it by saying, ďWell, itís only paper with ink on it; itís the ideas and knowledge on it that we make part of our lives that really count.Ē But the same could be said of the garment marks. Itís a paradox, isnít it?